Taichung prosecutors yesterday said they have indicted 51 people, including an officer in charge of issuing marine vessel licenses, on charges related to the forgery of government documents at the Central Taiwan Maritime Affairs Center.
The central suspect in the case is Sung Li-heng (宋立恒), a technician at the center in Taichung, who is accused of taking bribes and falsifying operating licenses for yachts and motor boats, as well as certification of professional training programs under the Maritime and Port Bureau, prosecutors said.
The Agency Against Corruption in May last year received a tip-off from members of the public, after which the agency and judicial investigators initiated a probe into the case, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors have pressed charges against Sung, as well as 45 people who allegedly bribed him and brokers involved in those transactions, they said.
A total of 51 people are accused of contraventions of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), prosecutors said.
Sung, who handles licensing at the center, allegedly took bribes to issue licenses to people who did not meet the requirements or did not want to participate in the required training, prosecutors said, adding that brokers allegedly put the two sides in contact.
The brokers charged NT$10,000 to NT$30,000 per license, and Sung received NT$5,000 to NT$8,000 apiece, prosecutors said, adding that the criminal operation was active for about 10 years, until May last year.
Sung used materials and templates for official licenses so that the fraudulent ones were indistinguishable from real licenses, prosecutors said.
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